Albanian Beaches

From Berati we headed to the western part of Albania and started our descent towards the beaches on southern Albania.
The battery "died" again, and this time we met such a nice car shop owner, that replaced the battery for us so that we can continue our journey, and meanwhile he charged our old one.
All this for no charge...
we met his relative that came with his Mercedes all the way from Switzerland (where he lives now) for a wedding.

when we continued further south, the topography became mountainous again, and the roads were very steep and wavy with beautiful scenery.

The guest house in Himara was a disappointment, since our room faced the mountain wall and not the beach.
after a few minutes of wandering in this deserted tiny road up the hill, we found a family that rented us a nice room with a window and beautiful view from their rooftop.
It seemed like we were their first guests since the house was still being built.
The couple were from Greece and the communication with them was mostly with hand waving..

a narrow path between old houses led us to the small beach with many cafes, retaurants and street vendors along it.

the next day we drove down to a more secluded beach with clear water and some very comfortable (and costly) huge beach bean bags...

Leaving the mountains

Today we left the mountains (later we understood that in albania, you can't leave the mountains for too long!)

We didn't wait for the public minibus, but joined a local jeep that our guest house owners organized for us.

Almost two and a half hours, most of it on unpaved road in bad condition, squashed in the backseat of the car, jumping and praying for our lives while enjoying the beautiful scenery-and we were back in Shkoder.

Like in the local minibuses, throughout our journey we heard on the radio what must be the inspiration to the great Israeli band "Balcan Beat Box".,,

In Shkoder we had some local pizza and were happy to meet Edmond and the blue Landrover again.

We picked up the rest of our stuff from Florians guest house ( we only took the bear necessities with us to the mountains), and headed to our next destination: Berati.

Berati is a very picturesque village situated on both sides of the Osumi river.

The old town's houses are glued to the hills and to each other and form a famous photo that can be seen on posters of Albanian tourism.

We stayed in a big "communistly built" hotel (hotel Europa - 30 eur incl breakfast) in the center of the town, with AC and s big window looking at the castle and old city.

Surprisingly, here too the shower has no curtain or glass around it. A strange Albanian habit that we encountered in other places as well...

We spent the rest of the evening strolling (with many local tourists) a modern avenue leading to the old beautiful quarters.

We had another pizza, this time on our hotel roof, watching the city and a thunder storm that came from the mountains but only rained for a few minutes and left..

The next day we visited the beautiful Berati castle. There are some nice souvenirs shops and cafes next to the castle.

Thethi valley

After two strenuous days of hiking, we woke up in the beautiful room in Harusha guest house (50 eur incl breakfast and dinner and a private shower with hot water!) in Thethi valley.

The breakfast included honey from the family's colorful bee hives (we saw the family's uncle removing the honey from the bee hive- using some smoke - no other protection).

We started with a stroll in the village , which has no paved roads, and looks like a postcard .

The funny thing in these villages is that there are no shops at all. Everybody grows and bakes and cooks their own food, and you can knock on any door and ask to buy a loaf of bread (the fire oven was right next to our room, in the same structure in which the cows live), or vegetables or cheese etc. They are still not thinking of selling "stuff" to tourists, and even souvenirs are very hard to find. We were offered by two different women from the village ( one of whom was knitting socks as she was walking down the street) to come to their house and buy what they are knitting , but refused .

We visited two old buildings, one of which was used as a refuge for people who were running away from a ״blood revenge" that was very common in these areas ( and still exists in some, as it exists regretfully in some societies in Israel as well). By the way, everyone in this village is Christian! So apparently this "blood revenge" idea has nothing to do with a specific religion.

After having espresso and Turkish coffee just under the "refuge" tower and above the river, we continued along the river and reached the waterfall about an hour later.

We did bath in one of the streams along the way, but regretfully the waterfall pool was too cold for us...

We found out that Nikola, one of five children of our guest room owners, is a mountain guide. He speaks fluent English and is very knowledgeable of the mountains around us including the whole "peaks of the Balcan" trail.

We also learnt that the older children spend the winter in Shkoder while the parents stay with the younger children in the village to watch the farm and the animals despite very heavy snow.

Mahe e Rozit - hike to Rozit mountain

With packed lunches and a handy map of the trail (2eur in Rilindja G.H.), we started walking towards the Mahe e Rozit trailhead.

We found out it was a long walk to the trailhead (maybe 4 miles uphill on the road) and would highly recommend joining a minibus that goes that way...

The trail itself goes from the collection of sparsely scattered houses called Valbone all the way to the Rozit pass ( Qafa e Rozit/1800 m) and then to the peak (Mahe e Rozit/2560 m).

Some of the ascents are very steep, especially the last part right before the pass and peak.

There is one shepherd's "summer" house in the middle of the ascent , where you can get Coke or refill your water.

The hike is very diverse in many aspects, walking in the woods and out of the woods, flowers change along the hike ( close to the top it looks like spring rather then summer), wild super sweet strawberrys, wild raspberrys and even some of last year's snow. And everywhere you look - superb views!!

The downside is that we had to come back on the same marked trail because the other options are either not marked or very difficult. (you would need a guide).

We stopped 200m short of the peak, mostly because I was exhausted and it was 3 pm.

It took us 7 hours to get there and 3.5 hours to get back "home".

The marks are very clear.

We could hardly climb the steps back to our room...

Into the mountains

The minibus to Koman ferry leaves Shkoder around 6 am and will pick you up from your hotel upon request. Another beautiful 2 hour ride ( 5 eur), led us to koman ferry.
Espresso with tiny yellow plums from the small balcony of the Cafe, is a good way to see the beautiful lake/fiord/dammed river, and the hustle of all the locals, tourists and different vehicles attempting to board the different ferries.

Tickets to the ferry were sold to us on the minibus, for the new small ferry Called Betisha (5 eur) .

We were up for an almost three hours flotilla surrounded by mountains whose feet are in the water and whose heads are in the clouds!
We sat on the ferry's roof, cold from the very strong wind, but weren't able to leave the views for the warmth of the indoor seating area.

Tickets to the minibus from Fierze ( where the ferry ends), were sold on the ferry...
This minibus rides along the Valbone river with its clear emerald pools, all the way to our guest house (Rilindja-25 eur incl breakfast) , situated on the river with mountains all around its wooden structure.

Another local meal ( pure cholesterol is injected to your veins with every meal - unless you only eat the Greek salad...) and a rest before we explore the area.

After a Saturday afternoon "shlaftshtunde", we went for a short walk into the woods. these high massive trees with lots of greenery, and a small wooden "hut" - would make the perfect set for a "Hanzel and Gretel" play.

BTW we are not the only Israelis here...

Second day

We started the day with an inviting "Israeli" breakfast

Then followed yet another scenic mountain road to Kukes.

After a Birra (Albanian and hebrew for beer) and espresso in a cafe bar just above the lake ( Fierza reservoir of the Drin river)

we joined one of the few Albanian highways and were quite impressed with the "double lane in each direction" idea...

The highway continues through a very long and modern tunnel and when it ended we continued north to Shkoder (second largest city after Tirana).

Florian guest house is situated on the city's outskirts , surrounded by fields. A large gated yard full of grape vines, vegetables and roaming chickens. The Accommodations reminded us of places we slept in 30 years ago in our "Big Trips", which made Eldad become very poetic as we tried to fall asleep with an open window and a noisy ventilator...

Despite this fact, it was interesting to meet this very hospitable Albanian family, eat dinner from what they grow in their garden and drink the wine they make from their grapes.
We listened attentively to Florian's stories about Hoxha, the terrible communist dictator, who held Albania in complete seclusion for over 40 years, and how difficult it is for a very young democracy who just got "acquainted" with the rest of the world (1991!!), to become a real democracy which can provide work and healthcare to all its citizens...

Just before dinner we were able to return the blue Landrover to Edmund and still had time for A sunset climb to the beautiful castle in Shkoder with panoramic views of the city and its surroundings.

After the walk we had another encounter with Albanian hospitality. We saw a pharmacist closing the pharmacy for the day with his wife and daughter waiting for him in the car and asked him where we could get a taxi. They immediately made room for us in their car and were willing to drive us to the hotel. We insisted on a ride only to the taxi station, where we met s very nice (and knowledgable) taxi driver who took us back to the hotel.
We learnt today that 1 in every 4 Albanians lives abroad and sends money back home, most Albanians speak italian and the average monthly salary is 150 euros...

Did we say adventure?

I was waiting for an adventurous journey.  I got it almost immediately...

Edmond from the AMW car rental in Shkoder, was waiting promptly with a blue Land Rover and helped us buy an Albanian sim card for 5 euros in the airport. You get many minutes and texts and most importantly 4 Gigas of Internet !
Edmund stressed a few times that car lights must be turned on at all times in Albania and policemen like to check it, but, the battery doesn't like it if the lights stay on while the starter is off.
Remember Chekhov's words: "A gun In the first act..."


We put Kruje (our first stop) on Apple maps app, and five minutes later found ourselves in a "drive through" of raspberry bushes on an unpaved road that led us straight into the river..,

We quickly deserted Apple's Maps and installed Google Maps like Edmund suggested.
Back on the asphalt road , the scenic way to Kruje (castle and bazaar) went smoothly.
BTW, Waze is only partially working in Albania, as of today...

Important tip:
The beautiful bazaar in Kruje, is by far the best place to buy souvenirs , so don't hesitate even if it is your first day!!!

After learning about the origins of the Albanian flag, (in the photo you see Skanderbeg the albanian hero who is depicted in the castle), we hit the road from Kruje via the pass called Kafa-Shtame, (following Google Maps, turning right at a sign next to a gas station about 1 km from the bazaar). The ultra scenic road (26 km)  is newly "asphalted" and we were thrilled!






(The communist bunker caves adorn the mountain walls too...)













The asphalt ends in a run down camping site and hotel entering the national park of kafa-Shtame, meaning Shtame pass.
We had espresso ( we just asked for coffee...) under the tall trees and were heading back to the jeep to continue our journey, only to find out that although we didn't forget to turn out the car lights, the battery was dead.

Automatic gear ruled out the pushing option. It took about 25 minutes to all the good people who surrounded us, to find s cable, and a handsome Jaguar helped us start the blue Jeep again.


Most of the communication was done using hand signs and the common word "cable".
We offered some souvenirs from Jerusalem to our helpers who seemed puzzled (or just thought we were being ridiculous).
As you will soon find out, these souvenirs weren't enough to cover the "Pay it forward" principle though, maybe because it wasn't forward...

The road from the campsite was a dirt road in very bad condition, winding through the woods, and we were grateful to have the Land Rover with us. No AC and no charging of iPhones now, to keep the battery alive.

About thirty minutes into this very slow and harsh drive, all alone in the woods,  we bump into a German couple, with a simple private Ford Mondeo with open engine cover, both sweating ( the man without his shirt) and very worried. They came from Burrel (on the other side of the mountain) following their GPS, and the car died on them after giving a heroic fight with this dirt road for a lot more than one might expect from such a car...
We spent a long time helping then send an accurate position to the insurance man, and waiting for him to decide whether or not he will send a tow truck today.
We might want to stress that this "German Ford " had a 23 hour drive from Germany to the Albanian border, and then a further drive to this this dirt road  in the two previous days.
We ended up taking the couple with us for another two hours of slow and strenuous drive (with majestic views!), all the way to Burrel.
The dirt road from Kafa-Shtama to burrel would make a great 2 days hike!!!









Our destination was a further two hours drive to Peshkopi, through asphalted road in bad shape, surrounded by rural Albania, with many happy cows, goats, chickens, turkeys etc., on the road and next to it. Lots of water in the river that followed us too!

Burnt corn ear stands, sold by kids ,dotted the road, reminding us of the famous Israeli children's book "Bim Bam Tiras Cham".

The Tu BeAv full moon helped us reach our destination without running over any Albanians (adults and young kids) who were bringing back home their mules, carrying stacks of hay, goats, cows and horses, for the night.
The nice little cabin was waiting for us (BAR RESTORANT HOTEL PICERI PISHINA ZERJA in Facebook). We had a nice italian dinner in honor of the italian couple that we met, trying to challenge our famous mountain road with an RV at around six in the evening...
We wish "Top Gear" were there to film the international challenge: an Italian RV vs. an Israeli Landrover and a German Ford ( who didn't make it...)
And don't forget our brave driver: Eldad!